Academies, trusts, independent schools and nurseries
Martyn's Law does not care how a school is funded or governed. It asks two things: what the premises are used for, and how many people can be there at once.
Who is in scope?
Schedule 1 to the Act (the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, known as Martyn's Law) lists primary and secondary education, further education and childcare as qualifying uses. That covers:
- maintained schools, academies and free schools
- alternative provision academies and pupil referral units
- independent schools
- sixth-form colleges and FE colleges
- nurseries and pre-schools
The threshold is the same for all of them: it is reasonable to expect 200 or more people on site at the same time, from time to time, counting staff.
All of these settings get the same special consideration. They are always standard tier, even with 800 or more people on site. A 1,500-pupil secondary is standard tier. The enhanced tier applies only to higher education and to privately owned independent training providers.
Who is the responsible person?
Whoever has control of the premises for their use as a school:
- a maintained school: normally the governing body
- an academy: the trust board
- an independent school: the proprietor
The Act decides this; nobody chooses it. Tasks can be delegated to a headteacher or a business manager. The legal responsibility cannot.
Trusts with several schools
The statutory guidance speaks directly to this. Its example is a governing body for an educational trust. Such a body should consider how the requirements are met at each individual premises, and avoid a one-size-fits-all approach.
A trust-wide policy is a sensible frame. But the procedures have to be the ones that work in each building: which doors lock, where the safer areas are, who starts the lockdown when the headteacher is off site. The evidence is per school too, and so is the notification to the regulator.
Trusts do have an advantage. One template, one briefing pack and one tabletop scenario, adapted school by school, with a central view of which schools have done what.
Shared sites and lettings
Where a school shares a site with something else in scope (a leisure centre, a nursery run by another organisation, a church), each responsible person co-ordinates with the others so their procedures do not conflict.
Where the school lets its hall or field, the school stays responsible. The guidance says to tell hirers what is expected of them, ideally in the hire agreement, and to be able to show that you did.
Do this next
Run the free readiness check for one school and see the shape of the work; it is the same shape for the rest.
Start the free readiness check